Monthly Archives: July 2008

July 1

I love field day! I can say that now, because I’ve been to one. But before we had our school field day, I had no idea what to expect. All I knew for sure was that I had a blue T-shirt (I was on the blue team) and that I was supposed to bring sunscreen and a water bottle. Oh, and I also knew that I was going to get wet. That wasn’t in the note the school sent home, though. My friend Marc told me about it. His exact words were, “Be prepared to get soaked. It’s a school tradition. Every year everyone gets wet.”

I figured that meant that we were going to have water balloon–tossing contests or something. But I was wrong. What Marc meant was that it was a school tradition for it to rain on field day. It’s happened every year since anyone can remember. And it’s not just a little drizzle. Apparently it’s usually more of a torrential downpour.

The day didn’t start out raining, though. When we got to the park, it was sunny. Everyone split up into teams, and we started doing relay races. I was in the three-legged race with Chloe. We came in second place behind two eighth graders on the yellow team. I think that’s pretty good, since the eighth graders are two years older than we are and their three legs are a lot longer than ours!

After the races, we all sat around and had a picnic lunch. The school had 30 massive six-foot hoagies delivered, and everyone got a piece. The hoagies were so much better than the sandwiches we get from the school cafeteria. And it was kind of funny watching our teachers eat their giant sandwiches. We don’t eat with the teachers at school—they have their own cafeteria—so we never get to see them do “human” things like drip mustard on their pants or spill a carton of juice all over their T-shirt.

Anyway, we had just finished lunch, and were getting ready for more games, when they sky suddenly darkened. In a flash, the skies opened up and rain came pouring down. My friends and I thought it was great. Chloe was the first one to start singing “I’m singing in the rain” at the top of her lungs. A moment later, we’d all joined in, singing, dancing, and laughing.

But the Pops weren’t laughing. They were totally freaked out. You should have seen them running for the busses and trying to keep their hair from getting all wet. I don’t know why they bothered. It wasn’t like the rain was going to make them melt or anything. (Although every now and then the way they act does remind me of The Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz, but that’s a whole other story.) But expecting the Pops to enjoy the rain is just too much to ask. Pops are not known for going with the flow.

Anyway, field day ended with a bang—literally—when the thunder started. At that point, the teachers loaded us all back on the busses quickly, and we headed back to school. It was kind of a bummer that it had to end early, but I was glad it rained. After all, rainy field days are our school’s tradition. I can’t wait to see if it happens again next year!